LIFE ROLES

Life
requires of us that we play definite “life roles.” These serve their
natural, useful functions and purposes. Healthy people realize this and can pick
up and put down life-roles as and when they are appropriate. When the role is
finished, as in parenting, then the person let’s is go. That is healthy. It is
unhealthy to cling on or forget that one is playing a “life-role.” This can
cause all sorts of problems when, particularly in parenting, a life role is
played on past it’s appropriate time. Some people do not want to give up a
certain “life-role” because they are afraid that they will be lost without
it. The life-role has become a major part of their personality. This is not
healthy. The inappropriate application of life roles has a negative (unhealthy)
influence upon life.

Throughout our life, we are all
required to take on and play a variety of life-roles. For example; the mother,
the father, the brother, the student, the teacher, the worker, etc...

Anxiety and confusion arises
when:

We don't know which roles
we are playing.

We get attached to one or
more roles and believe ourselves to be that role.

We have not identified the
roles we are required to play.

We are ill-equipped or
ignorant of the requirements and qualities needed to play a role.

We are completely ignorant
concerning the whole matter of conscious role-playing. We have not thought
about the roles we will probably be required to play in the course of our
life.

Here follows a small list of
common life-roles. I am sure that you can add many more to the list.

A member of a family.

A husband or wife.

A parent.

A son or daughter
(excluding the very young child who is naturally unaware of their
relationships with the world and others).